Opening Thurs 1 Aug, 6pm
Exhibition runs Fri 2 Aug – Sat 24 Aug
Open Tuesday – Friday 10am – 5pm, Saturday 11am – 3pm

The Australian Quaker Narrative Embroidery Project is a collection of embroidered panels designed to tell the story of The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia, through stitch.

The project was inspired by the 77 elaborate and intricately designed British Quaker Tapestries (the Kendal Tapestries), the designs of which were in turn based on the famous Bayeux Tapestry.

Ideas for the Australian panels come from all over Australia, and depict local Quaker history beginning with the arrival in 1770 of the first Quaker, Sydney Parkinson, a botanical artist and a member of Captain Cook’s expedition. Currently there are 20 completed panels, with plans for a total of 70 to be created.

The Project began in 2007 and until recently, the panels have had limited public exposure, exhibited only in Quaker settings (at local meetinghouses around the country or Quaker gatherings) and in selected public libraries. However, the “Friends in Stitches”, the group that meets to create the panels and carry on the work supporting other stitching groups around the country, would like to take the Project to the wider world, and begin offering the panels for exhibition to Australian galleries and cultural institutions.

The Australian Quaker Narrative Embroidery Project will be on display in the Albert Hallway gallery space.